Early Musical Projects
Murphy has cited his influences as Liquid Liquid, Talking Heads, The Fall, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Velvet Underground, David Bowie and Daft Punk. He attended West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South in Princeton Junction, New Jersey. Murphy was a member of Falling Man from 1988 to 1989, Pony from 1992 to 1994, and Speedking from 1995 to 1997. He was also the sound engineer for Sub Pop band Six Finger Satellite. (Former Six Finger Satellite member John Maclean is now on Murphy's record label as The Juan Maclean.) At age 22, Murphy was offered a job writing for the sitcom Seinfeld which was then little-known. He did not expect the show to be successful and chose to continue with music instead.
Starting in 1993, Murphy used the name Death from Above when DJing, a nickname that was given to his signature PA setup while he was the sound setup for Six Finger Satellite. In 1999 he formed Death from Above Records (later abbreviated to "DFA Records") in New York City with Tim Goldsworthy (formerly of UNKLE). The name "Death from Above" led to a dispute with a two-man Canadian band also using the same name. In response to a legal threat, the Canadian group changed their name to Death from Above 1979.
Read more about this topic: James Murphy (electronic Musician)
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